Drafting and lay-out instrument



Feb. 1927.

22, l G, L. 'rx-:RNA

DRAFTING AND LAY-OUT INSTRUMENT Filed Dec'.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Sttozmgo LSJSS Feb. 22, 1927- G, L, TERNA DRAFTING AND LAY-OUT INSTRUMENT Filed Dec. 29. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H gl@ Patented Feb. 22, 1927.

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GZA L. TERNA, F DETROIT, MICHIGAN'.

DRAITING- AND LAY-OUT INSTRUMENT.

Application filed December 29, 1923. Serial No. 683,322.

This invention relates to improvements in compass-type instruments and more particularly to an improved instrument by which tracery, ovals, curves, circles, ellipses, spirals and other conehoidal, crescentic or devious delineations may be readily formed.

ylhe primary object of the present invention is to provide a lay-out or drawing instrument, by the manual manipulation of which, curves ot various characters may be automatically generated, corresponding to the adjustment of a controlling mechanism, and absolute ideal curves delineated.

More specifically, the invention has tor an object to provide a curve-drawing instrument employing a marking element adapted to be moved about a centering element in the formation ot' a curve with guiding means adapted to automatically assume positions controlling the movement of the marking element in a path varying in distance from the centering element.

Another object of this invention is to provide controlling means for the guiding means whereby the proportions and the character of the curve generated may be quickly and accurately altered.

A still further object or" the invention is to provide holding means preventing rotation of the controlling means with the marking element under the manual manipulation of the latter to outline a curve.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent from the following description and claims.

ln the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the instrument;

Fig. 2 is an'eolge view of the uppenportion of. the instrument, partly in vertical section and illustrating different positions of the guiding elements;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line III-IH of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4: is an enlarged side elevation ot a portion ot the instrument, partiv in section;

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross sectional view ot the same showing the guiding element in contact with a control element;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view ot the inst-rument illustrating thel manner of manipulating the same in the gene r`ation of an ellipse or oval;

Fig. 7 is an edge view ot the upper portion of the instrument showing different positions ot the controlling and guiding elements;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of portion of an instrument including another form ot' guiding element;

F 9 is a plan of the same, and

Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 are. views showing dierent conligurations that may be delineated by the instrument.

In the drawing there is shown an instrument somewhat in the form of a compass comprising a pair of legs 1 and 2, the leg 1 having a central or pivot pin 3 and constituting a centering element, while the leg 2 has a marking instrumentality 4 and constitutesa marking element which may be shifted relative to the centering element. The upper ends of the legs l and2 terminate in hell-ow heads 3 and said heads are pivotally connected by a pivot pin .6 on which is mounted a coiled spring 7 having its ends bearing against the heads 5 so that the expansive force of said springs will tend to separate said legs.

The pivot pin 6 supports the side ears 8 of a yoke 9 and the side ears are provided with longitudinal slots 10 for a transverse equalizing pin 11, which may be in the form oit screws with anti-trictional sleeves or rollers thereon,A said pin extending through angularly disposed slots 12 in the heads 5 of the legs 1 and 2. The slot 12 of one. leg is disposed at a rightangle to the slot12 of the opposite leg, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.1-, and with t-he legs urged apart by the coiled spring 7, the extent of movement of one leg is necessarily equal to that of the other leg, consequently the yoke 9 always remains in a line bisecting t-he angle between the spread legs. This is one form of equalizing device that may be advantageously used without any great change in the usual heads of a compass.

On the yoke 9 is a spindle 13 having a threaded upper end la and a linger piece l5 and in some instances a. crank 16- or the like (see Fig. 2). Looseon the smooth portion Ot' the spindle 13 is a slee-ve 17 having its lower end provided with a peripheral flange or seat 1S and loose on said flange or seat is a support 19, having diametrically opposed arms one of which has a wing or linger piece 21,. The outer ends of the arms 2O are provided with universal joints or connections tor a guiding device or patterirdisk Id3 which is in the form of a llat annulus that may be tilted on an axis at a right angle to the axis oiI the spindle 13, so that in plan view its circular outline may be evolved into that ot an oval or ellipse, as will hereinafter appear` The lower tace ot the guiding element 23 constitutes a track and the upper :tace oit said guiding element a'llords a stop surface adapted to be engaged by one or two dianietrically opposed adjustable control elements 2l carried by the support 19 in ay plane at a right angle to the equatorial axis about which the guiding element turns. The controlling elements 2l are preferably in the l'orin et `lingers which may be adjusted and set relative to the support l2) and ditl'erent positions oit these lingers have been shown in Figs. 2 and T.

Vlhe marking element or leg Q, adjacent its head 5, is provided with longitudinal intersecting slots 25 and 2li. Slidable in the slot and adapt-ed to be tired relative to the leg 2 is a set screw 2"? or other clamping element adapted i'or holding the l'orked or bi'lurcated end 28 oit a segment shaped arm 25) which extends through the slot QG and may be shifted therein and fixed relative to the leg 2 by the set screw 2T'. On the upper end ot the arm 29 is an anti-trietional bearing` i0 which engages the lower track tace o the. guiding element or pattei'indisk 23. Outward movement ol' the leg 2 relative to the leg l is limited by the arm 29 engaging tithe guiding element 23 and tilting of this jguiding element is delined by the position tot one or beth oit the controlling elements 24.

The upper end ot' the threaded sleeve 1T is split or biiurcated to provide a plurality of clutch jaws 3l which are sprung` outwardly and are adapted to be shifted inwardly into screwthreaded engagement with the threaded portion oit a spindle 18, so that when said spindle is rotated by the linger piece l5 or preferably the crank 16, the sleeve l?" will be lied on the spindle and raised or lowered according to the direction in which the spindie is rotated.v This is accomplished by providing the sleeve 17 with a nut 32 that can be secured onto the jaws 31 or backed oill oit said jaws, the nut when in engagement with said jaws `establishing a driving relation between the spindle and sleeve, whereby it the linger 'piece 2l is loosely held in one hand, to prevent rotation oit the support 1S). and the spindle 13 revolved by the other hand, the sleeve li' will be shifted longitudinally of the spindle and may assume the position shown in Fig. 5'.

Before considering another form of guiding element as shown in Figs. 8 and i), the manner of using the instrument will be considered.

Assuming that the ellipse or oval is to be drawn or points laid out by which ditlerent curves may be joined to produce the outline ot the ellipse or oval shown in Fig. (l, the instrument is placed in position i'or the minor axis, (oneshalt ot such axis being represented by the' spread or distance between the lower ends ot vthe centering and marking legs l and lilith the instrument in such position the arm 2t) is adjusted until it. engages the guiding element and then the arm 29 is lixed relative to the marking leg 2 by the set screw El?. 'lhis adjustment is performed with the legs l and 2 in approximately the vertical plane of tl arms ll olE the support 1f), so that the arm QS) will be substantially umler one oi the universal joints of the guiding element or pattern-disk. Such adjustment detines the spread ot the marking leg 2 relative to the centering leg l as 'far as the minor axis ot' the ellipse is concerned, and to prepare the instrument ttor a major axis, with the centering leg still in posit-ion7 the marking leg 2 is .swung to one olf the extreme points ot the major axis. rlhis ot course means a greater' spread oi the markn ing leg 'lhen the controlling element or lin ger 2t above the raised edge ot the guiding element is brought downwardly on to the upper tace oi said element and set. The instrument is then swung `so that the other controlling element or linger 2l .may be set relative to the raised edge oit the guiding element or j iattern-disk 23, thus positioning the two controlling" elements or lingers to define or limit the spread ot the marking leg Q as i'ar as the major axis is concerned.

The instrument having been set ior these two axes, the linger piece 2l is now held in one hand, as liest shown in Fig. G, to maintain the support ll) stationary, but not interilere with tilting oit. the guiding element on its axis. lhe other hand is then used to twirl or turn the linger piece l5, and ren'rembering that the spring "2 is tending to constantly spread the free ends ot the centering and marking legs, it is obvious that the spread ot said legs will be in ratio with the 1novements oitl the guiding elements or patterndisk 28 relative lo its support. Assumingl that the instrinnent is to be. turned in a clockwise direction with reference to Fig. (l, the marking leg 2 will griulually increase its radius trom the centering leg and in so doing tilt the guiding element or pattern-disk until one side ot the guiding element inipinges against one ot the said controlling` lingers El. its the arm Q9 passes under the controlling element the extreme curve at one end olt the major axis is described by the instrument and trom such point on the radius graduallj.' decreases t'or the minor axis, until the instrument is in an opposite position vfrom that shown in Fig. G. From then on the radius increases for the marking element causing the guiding element to he tilted in a reverse direction until it impinges against the other controlling element or finger 24, which defines another extreme of the major axis. The tilting of the guiding element or pattern-disk 23, for two extreme major axis positions has been brought out in Fig. 2.

It should now be apparent that if the controlling elements or fingers 2&14 define major aXis extremities for the marking element 2, that either one of these controlling elements or lingers may be adjusted to limit the tilting of the guiding element, and in Yconsequence of such adjustments the substantially heart shaped configurations shown in Figs. 10 and 14n may be produced.

The instrument may also be used for generating a spiral configuration, as shown in Fig. 12, or an elongated spiral as shown in F ig. 13. To do this the marking leg limits for the minor and major axes ofthe inner or small spiral convolution are set, just as though a single ellipse was to be produced,

and then the nut 32 is adjusted to establish a driving relation between-the spindle13 and the sleeve 19. Lightly holding the linger piece 21, to prevent rotation of the support 19 and yet not interfere with vertical movement of said support, the finger piece 15 or the crank 1G is turned and the sleeve 17 fed upwardly on the spindle 13. This of course causes the guiding element or pattern-disk 23 to be gradually and uniformly raised as the marking element 2 is swung about the centering element 1. Since the guiding element is raised there will be a gradual spread of the marking element relative to the centering element, and since the controlling element or lingers 24 are raised by the support 19, it is obvious that these controlling elements will cooperate with the arms 20, the guiding element 23 and the arm 29, in defining the minor and major axes for each convolution or configuration or rotation of the instrument. Bearing in mind that the controlling elements or fingers 24 are independently adjustable, it is possible to produce a wide range of spiral configurations from that shown in Fig. 12 to extremes beyond that shown in Fig. 13.

A further development of my invention is the substitution of another form of guiding element or pattern-disk for that just described, and by reference to Figs. 8 and 9, it will be noted that the guiding element or pattern-disk 33 has an undulating configuration and its upper and lower faces may present angularly related surfaces, which in some instances may be more or less tortuous or irregular for the production of various configurations. With such obtuse angular faces on the guiding element or pattern-disk 33 it is possible to produce square or regular configurations, one lfof which is shown in Fig. 11, and as illustrating a modified form of connection between the arms 20 and the guiding element or patterndislrl show the guiding element 33 as having depending apertured ears 34 provided with trunnions 35 for apertured extremities or lugs 36 of the support arms 20. It is an extremely easy matter to remove one support and its guiding element and substitute another therefor.

It is thought that the manner of using the instrument will be apparent without further description, and while in the drawings there are illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the structural elements are susceptible to such changes in size, shape and manner of assembling, as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Vhat I claim is 1. in a curve-drawing instrument, the combination of a centering-element adapted to have its lower end serve as a pivot, a marking-element pivotally connected to said centering-element so that the lower end of said marking-element may be swung relative to the pivot end of said centeringele ment in the formation of a curve, a pattern-dish supported from above the pivot of said centering and marking elements for movement by said marlring-element engaging the lower face of said pattern-disk during a curve-drawing operation, and means adapted to limit the movement of said pattern-disk and thus determine the movement of the marking-element in a path varying in distance from the centering-element in the formation of a curve of predetermined proportions.

2. In a compass-type curve drawing instrument, the combination with a pair of pivotally connected legs having free ends limited in relative movement toward and from each other, of means supported by said legs and adapted to be engaged and tilted by one of said legs during a curve drawing operation for automatically varying` the extent of spread of the legs throughout the formation of a curve of predetermined proportions In a compass-type curve-drawing instrument, the combination with a pair of legs having adjacent ends limited in relative movement to from and toward each other, of means supported by said legs and including a pattern-disk, adapted to be engaged and tilted by one of said legs during a curve-drawing operation for automatically varying the extent of spread of the adjacent ends of the legs in the formation of a curve.y

a. A curve-drawing instrument as called for in claim 1, and means adapted for bodily shifting said pattern-disk andthe. last inentioned means to increase or decrease the path to be traversed by the marking-element.

5. In a compass-type curve-drawing instrument, the combination with a pair `of llt) lll

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legs havingl lilee ends relatively movable to each other, oi a tiltable pattern-disk adapt ed to be tilted b v one otI said legs, means on said legs tiltably supportingl said patterndisk, means for limiting;l the movement ot' the pattern-disk relative to its leg supporting means, and yielding means t'or maintainingy the spread ot the tree ends ot the legs so that one ot said legs will be operatively held relative to said pattern-disk :tor tilting said pattern-diskt. ln a compass-type curve-drawingsr instrument, the. combination with pivotally connected lees ha viner Atree ends relativelv moveable to each other, a pattern-disk. a support l'or pivotally mounting said pat-- tern-disk the pivotal axis being` maintained substantially in the horizontal plane ot the pivot oit the legs, a projection on one ot said legs adapted to contact with said patterndiv i, and means for limiting the movement ot the patterirdisl; relative to its support in accordance with the nature ot the curve.

7. ln a compass-type curve-drawine` instrument, in combination, a` pair ot pivotally connected legs, a patternalisk supported :tor tiltingI movement thereby, a projection upon one of said legs, means ttor yieldingly maintaining,` the same in Contact with said pattern-disk, opposed guide-elements in a plane at a right angle to the tilting' axis oit' said pattern-disk for controlling' the movements of said pattern-disk, said guide elements beine,` adjustable in a vertiial plane to vary the nature oi' the curve produced.

S. ln a compass-type curve drawing instrument comprising a pair of pivotally connected legs ot' which one leg` is turned about the other in the formation of a curve, in comlfiination, a pattern-disk supported from said legs tor movement about an axis, a projection on one ot' said legs adapted to coin tact with said pattern-disk, controllingl means in a plane at a right angle to the axis oit said jmttern-disk adapted to be engaged by said patterna'lisl ttor limiting` the tilting movement ot the pattern-disk in accordance with the nature ot the curve. and means :for maintainingI said controlliimmeans stationary relatively to the turning; movement oli one ot said lees about the other.

9. In a curve-drawingl instrument, the combination ot' a centering-element adapted to have its lower end serve as a pivot, a marlciugr-element supported Atrom said cen- 'ternia-elementA so that the lower end ot said ma thing-element may be swungl relative to the pivot end of said eentering-element in the l'orim'ition of an oval, tiltable means actuated by said niarking-element for guiding the movement ol" the marking-element in a path `from the extremities ot: a minor axis through the extremities eta major axis in the formation ot the oval, and means en gageable by the lirst mentioned means tor defining the proportions of the oval to be produced.

l0. In a curve-drawing` instrument, the comliination ot a centering-element adapted to have its lower end serve as a pivot, a 1narking-element supported from said centering-element so that the lower end ot said matiring-element may be swung relative to the pivot end oit said centering-element in the :toi-mation of a curve, and a guiding element for said marking-element adapted to freely move under the influence of said ntalking-element to assume positions delininfe; an oblique projection oit a circle upon. the drawing' surl'ace, and means engageable by said gruiding-elementV to deline the degree ot' oblique projection.

ll. ln a curvedrawing instrument, in combination, a ccnteriug-ele1nent, al mark ing-element pivotally connected to said centering' element and movable about the eenteringselement in the formation ot' a curve, a guiding element tor said marking-element in appriiiximately the horizontal plane ol the pivotal connection ot said centering and marking-elements adapted to automatically asiume positions defining an oblique projection ot' a circle upon the drawingsurface whereby a true ellipse may be :formed by the movement ol said marking element, and means for determining the angle ot the oblique-projection path ot' movement for correspondingly varying the proportions of the ellipse.

12. In a eurve-drawing` instrument, the combination of a eentering-elen'ient adapted to have its lower end serve as a pivot, a mai-kiiigele1nent supported from said centerimr-element so that the lower end ot said marking-element may be swungl relative to the pivot: end ot said centering-element in the Formation ot a curve and a spindle sustained by said elements, ot a support on said spindle, a guiding-element held by said support tor tilting` movemeiit, a projection upon the markiiig-element yieldingly maintained in contact with the lower tace ot the. enidirigilelement, and means adapted for engagement with the upper l'aee o l' the guiding element l'or automatically controlling the positions of the guiding-element during' the turninil ot' the mathing-element about the centering-element in the formation of a curve.

18. In a curve-drawing instrument, the combination with a centering-element, a marking-element pivotally connected with and movable about the centeringl element in the formation of a curve, and a spindle sustained b v said elements, of a guiding-ele ment, a sleeve sustained by said spindle and tiltably suj'mortinel said guiding element, a plurality ot adjustable controllinglingers projecting t'rom said sleeve, and means carried by the markingelement for causing CII means operable by said guiding means during the drawing operation.

15. In a drawing instrument, a marking leg, a centering leg having upper pivotally connected ends, a spindle adapted to be tWirled to move the marking-leg about the centering leg, means at the pivot of said legs tending to separate said legs, means supported from said spindle and having a guiding surface surrounding said centering leg, and an adjustable arm carried by said marking leg and engaging the guiding surface of said means for controlling the degree of leg separation, said guiding means being tiltable by said arm and movable bodily in a vertical direction relative to said spindle.

16. A drawing instrument comprising a spindle, pivoted legs carried by said spindle, means constantly tending to spread said legs apart, and guiding means supported from said spindle and surrounding the pivot of said legs, for holding one leg so that it may be swungl about the other leg to generate a circle, said guiding means being tiltable by one of said legs and manually movable in a direction bi-secting the angle of leg spread so that a spiral may be generated.

17. A drawing instrument comprising a spindle, pivoted spring pressed legs carried by said spindle and constantly tending to spread, and an annulus supported from said spindle about the pivot of said legs and having its center constantly in a line bisecting the angle of leg spread, said annulus being engaged by one oiz said legs to limit the spreading action l' said legs, said annulus being adjustable relative to said spindle tor the generation of a spiral.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature.

GZA L. TERNA. 

